


The Sacrifices One Makes For Love

by CallieeGirl



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Has a Crush on Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Adrien comes back, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bad Parent Gabriel Agreste, F/M, Hurt Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, I Blame Tumblr, I'd never do that, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Needs a Hug, Of course he doesn't stay dead, Please Don't Hate Me, Poor Plagg (Miraculous Ladybug), Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Post-Reveal Pre-Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Temporary Character Death, What Have I Done, Why Did I Write This?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:28:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24476518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CallieeGirl/pseuds/CallieeGirl
Summary: Adrien will do anything he can to make sure his lady is happy and healthy. So when an akuma injures her again, he decides to end Hawk Moth's reign once and for all, even if it means doing it alone and losing himself in the process.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 16
Kudos: 97





	1. Boom Goes the Agreste Mansion

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nobu_akuma](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nobu_akuma/gifts), [clslovegood47](https://archiveofourown.org/users/clslovegood47/gifts), [Penguonice](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Penguonice/gifts), [freezingoceans](https://archiveofourown.org/users/freezingoceans/gifts), [(other nug fam that's not on here)](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=%28other+nug+fam+that%27s+not+on+here%29).



> Welcome to an angsty fic! I have no idea why I wrote this, I blame the nug fam and my own brain, but I hope you guys enjoy!

Adrien stood on a balcony, his gaze hard as he looked at the akuma and the damage it left behind. He knew what he had to do, he just _didn’t want_ to do it. Then again, he had no choice. His lady was wounded and there was no one coming to help them. 

The blond glanced at his classmate, watching as she snuggled deeper into her bed. He still couldn’t believe it. _Marinette was Ladybug all along…_ So he fell for the same girl twice. Of course, luck was never on his side and now she had Luka. His gaze fell on the Miraculous that sat delicately in her ears. 

_No. He wouldn’t let her get hurt. Not again._

Plagg, seeing the look and determination on Adrien’s face, quickly flew over in front of him. “Kid, I know what you’re thinking. Don’t do it.” 

The boy in question ignored the kwami and moved to Marinette’s side, his hands reaching for the earrings. 

“Adrien, don’t,” Tikki said sternly. “You know what will happen if you do.”

“She was hurt once. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

“Even if it means losing your life in the process?” The pink kwami asked, her eyes softening. “I know you want to protect her, but you can’t do this on your own.”

Adrien paused for a moment, looking as though he was thinking it over before shaking his head. “I won’t be alone. I’ll have Plagg with me.” With that he removed the earrings from his “good friend’s” ears, setting them in a box and hiding them in a place he knew she’d never look.

Plagg watched Tikki disappear back into the earrings as Adrien turned back to Marinette’s bed, kissing her softly on the cheek. “Goodbye, My Lady. I hope you find happiness in your relationship with Luka. And if this… if this is it… know that I will always love you.” 

“Adrien…?” Her voice was rough but beautiful.

“Shhhhh, it’ll all be okay. Go back to sleep. I’ll take care of everything.”

“Wait… Where are you going?”

He chuckled and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. “I’m going to save Paris.” 

“No. Not without me.”

“I’m afraid you can’t help me with this one, Bugaboo. I won’t let you sacrifice your happiness for me.”

“Don’t go.”

“Please rest. When you wake up it’ll… it’ll all be over. Then you won’t have to worry anymore.”

Marinette sat up quickly. “No—”

Adrien kissed the top of her head and moved toward the trapdoor. “Goodbye, My Lady.” He took a deep breath and climbed onto the balcony, refusing to let his emotions get the better of him.

“Plagg, claw—”

“No! Don’t do it!” 

Adrien sighed and willed himself not to cry as he turned to meet her. Marinette was just feet away from him, tears pooling in her eyes.

“Please, don’t. I can’t handle it—” She fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around herself.

The young man quickly walked over to her and crouched down. “Marinette, I’m not trying to make you cry. I’m doing it for you. So that you don’t have to give up your happi—”

“Stop it!” She cried, looking away as tears ran down her cheeks. “You deserve happiness too, Adrien. Stop sacrificing yourself!” 

He laid a palm on her shoulder, giving her a soft smile. “Don’t worry about me, Princess. I’m good at this, I’ve done it several times already.” 

“But you _shouldn’t_!” She sobbed, taking hold of Adrien’s arm. “You’ve given too much already and I can’t lose you again. Let me take care of it, please.” 

Adrien shook his head and took her in his arms, moving towards the trapdoor. “Please, Adrien! We’re in this together. We always have been. Don’t leave me. Don’t do this.”

“I’m sorry, Marinette, but I won’t let you get hurt again.” He placed her on her bed before closing the door and locking it, throwing the key onto another roof. “I love you,” Adrien whispered as he turned away, a forbidden tear escaping and running down his cheek as he heard Marinette’s pleading to let her come with him.

Plagg flew out of his hiding place. “Kid… You don’t have to do this.”

“You know I have to, Plagg. He’s my _father._ He hurt _Marinette._ I can’t just sit by and watch. This is the end. I’m doing it for her.”

“But Marinette will help you! You two are a team. You’re stronger together. She was even gonna call in the other heroes to help.”

The model shook his head and took a deep breath. “You’ve been a great friend. I wouldn’t choose anyone else to be by my side.”

Plagg’s eyes widened. “Wait, Adrien, don’t—”

“Plagg… Claws out!” The familiar green light enveloped him and soon Chat Noir made his appearance. “Alright, Adrien. You’ve got this. Don’t back down now.” He spoke words of encouragement to himself as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop, trying not to think about what would happen.

* * *

Marinette pushed against the door once more. “Ugh! That dumb cat! When I get my hands on him…” She huffed and clambered down the ladder to the floor. 

“Tikki! Spots on!” The heroine waited for the magic to transform her but… nothing. “Tikki?” Confused, Marinette reached up to feel her ears. “No…” 

_Her earrings weren’t there. Why weren’t they there? Adrien wouldn’t have... Or would he?_

“Tikki?!” She called and rummaged through her room. “Where are you?!” 

Boxes and clothes flew as Marinette tried to find her Miraculous. The teen almost cried when she felt like she had looked everywhere and there was still no sign of the earrings. She was about to give up hope until she remembered one last place they could be.

Standing on her wobbly desk chair, she pulled out a box from her closet and tossed it on the ground, searching through countless photos of Adrien she had taken down years prior, until…

“Yes!” She held up a smaller box which contained the red and black spotted jewelry. Marinette quickly slipped them on her ears and Tikki appeared.

“Marinette! Thank goodness! Adrien—”

“I know. We have to go help him.” The kwami’s chosen one stood up and began to climb the ladder to her bed. 

“Uh… Aren’t you forgetting something?”

Marinette paused and glanced at her outfit. “Oh… Right. Tikki! Spots on!”

This time, the pink light flashed through the bedroom and Ladybug burst through the trapdoor onto the balcony. “Alright… The most likely place that Chat went is the one place he knew Hawk Moth would be. Which is…”

A boom echoed in the distance and Ladybug’s eyes widened as she looked towards the sound. Black smoke rose from the building. “...the Agreste mansion.”

* * *

“No, no, no, no. Please be okay. _Please be okay.”_ Ladybug swung from rooftop to rooftop, moving as fast as she could to the home of her archenemy and partner. 

Time seemed to slow as she arrived in front of the burning rubble. “Chat Noir? Chat Noir?!” Her voice broke as she began digging through the debris before using her yoyo to track his baton. 

Once a location had been pinpointed, Marinette hurried over and moved giant rocks away from the area, her heart pounding in her chest as golden hair covered in filth became visible. “No! Chat Noir!” 

She pushed away any debris she could and pulled her partner into her arms. Chat Noir’s eyes were closed. Bruises and blood covered most of his exposed skin. He had a deep gash on the back of his head and didn’t seem to be breathing.

“Come on, come on! Chat Noir, wake up!” She grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him, trying anything she could to get the teen to wake up. “Don’t you _dare_ die on me! You can’t leave me here alone! Come on!”

People began gathering, some shouting for someone to call an ambulance, while others just stood around shocked and confused at what had happened, but Ladybug didn’t hear any of it. She was too busy trying to make sure the one person she had fallen in love with didn’t die. 

“Please, Adrien,” Marinette whispered, not wanting anyone else to hear. She pulled him closer to her as tears ran down her cheeks. “Please come back to me… I-I love you. I love you and I never got to tell you and now… now you’re gone…”


	2. The Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surely you guys didn't think that was it 😉
> 
> Thank you so much, mostlovedgirl, for betaing this!

_What do I do? What do I do?_

To say Marinette was panicking was an understatement. The love of her life was almost, if not already, dead and there was no time to get him to the hospital. Wait… She was _Ladybug._

Her kwami was the god of creation. If anyone could fix this, it was her… Right?

She took a deep breath and, standing up on shaky legs, threw her yoyo into the air and shouted, “Lucky Charm!” Once the object, a fire extinguisher (which would have been helpful _ten minutes ago_ ), landed in her hands she quickly tossed it up and a resounding “Miraculous Ladybug!” filled the streets of Paris.

The magical ladybugs flew all around the heroine, fixing the Agreste mansion and removing any debris that had been made, restoring everything to the way it was before, before enveloping Chat Noir and disappearing.

Marinette watched, eyes fixed on her very still partner, waiting for him to spring up, gather her in a hug, and, once she made sure he was completely okay, punch him for being an _idiot_ and getting himself killed _._

Except it never happened. He didn’t sit up and give her a goofy grin, or wink at her and say “Thanks, My Lady, but I had it covered,” or even make one of those stupid puns that she secretly loved. He just stayed, lying on the ground, not moving at all.

“No, no, no! It… it should have worked… Why didn’t it work?” Marinette felt her breath quickening. “The Lucky Charm always works. Why isn’t he back yet?” 

People around her moved away slightly, trying to give her space as she began pacing around.

“Come on, Chat, come on! You stupid cat! You can’t be dead… You can’t! You were always supposed to be there for me! It’s Ladybug and Chat Noir!” 

Ladybug felt tears pricking her eyes as she leaned against the wall of the Agreste Mansion. The blood rushing through her ears and her shaking legs were sure signs that she was having a panic attack.

“Miraculous Ladybug! Miraculous Ladybug… Miraculous Ladybug…” She repeated over and over again, sliding down to the ground and wrapping her arms around herself, burying her face in her knees. “Please come back… please come back…”

The girl was faintly aware of paramedics entering the building and the flashing of cameras, but shut everything and everyone out. She lost the one person whom she loved so deeply. Nothing else mattered anymore.

Suddenly, she felt firm, warm hands gripping her upper arms reassuringly, thumbs rubbing soothing circles into her trembling muscles under the thin barrier her suit provided. _' No…’_ Marinette squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to face reality. 

Then a smooth, warm voice soothed her aching heart. “My Lady…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's short but we got our Chat Noir back. I'd never kill him off and leave him dead...


End file.
